


All for You

by schwertlilie



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, History Fic, M/M, Manipulation, Sibling Incest, manifest destiny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5761582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schwertlilie/pseuds/schwertlilie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred wants Matthew to become one with him, and quietly manipulates the situation to make it possible - economic, political, and cultural integration are all fair game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All for You

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to the kink meme, [here](http://hetalia-kink.livejournal.com/13943.html?thread=35329655#t35329655), March 2010. The cultural references are therefore a little dated.

(Note: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is the body that regulates a lot of things in Canadian media, including approving new/foreign cable channels and setting quotas for Canadian content on Canadian radio & TV channels. They're one of the organisations behind Canadian cultural protectionism.)

~ ~ ~

_Governments underestimate, sometimes, how much influence their nations' personifications have on them, their policies._

 

"Congrats, bro! You're united for another couple years."

Alfred could hear Matthew's smile over the phone line. "Thanks. I'm just glad the referendum's over - my migraine is already getting better."

"You boss'll be happy that the random Quebecois outbursts are finished. Though isn't he...?"

"Yeah, he's from Quebec. And no, he was not amused when I snapped and called him a wanna-be Anglo. Just a sec-" Muffled noise and laughter. "You still there, Al?"

"Yep."

"My boss wants me out on the streets, among my people. I'll phone you tomorrow?"

"Hey, why don't you come down for barbecue instead? Sit out on the porch and relax. Celebrate properly."

Pause, but when Matthew spoke again his voice glowed. "Sounds great. Six o'clock your time?"

"Uh-huh. See you then."

"See you." Click.

"Love you, Matt," Alfred whispered to the dead connection.

Placing the receiver back on the cradle, he looked down at the papers on his desk. The plan wouldn't be needed now - a sovereign Quebec would have isolated Canada's East Coast from the rest of the country, cut central Canada off from the Saint Lawrence River and year-round access to the Atlantic Ocean, destabilised trade and Canada's economy. Alfred could have stepped in to rescue his brother, adding the Maritimes first and then the west, but the federalists had won.

Alfred put the plans into their folder. But if he knew his brother - and he knew his brother better than anyone - this would only be a temporary reprieve for Matt. Quebec would have another referendum, in another fifteen or twenty years, and there was no sense destroying plans when they could be dusted off and updated when needed. Alfred slipped the folder into his desk, locked the drawer.

Ah well. There were other plans.

 

_Politicians, functionaries, ministers all reach their positions by practicing negotiation, manipulating opinions and information._

 

"Argh!" Matthew threw a pillow at his TV, and Alfred knew he wished he could throw it at the newscasters. "People are _surprised_ that the musicians from the opening and closing ceremonies were Canadian? Jesus Christ!"

Alfred scrambled to keep the bottle on the table upright. "Hey, watch the soda!"

"Sorry. It's just-" He huffed. "It's bad enough people still mistake me for you, but mistaking my musicians for yours? Nickelback? Bryan Adams? _Alanis_?"

Alfred moved back on the couch, and reached to ruffle Matt's hair. It was new, the way they touched; contact hasn't been this casual since they were both colonies. Alfred loved every minute, every chance. "But you still have Neil Young and The Guess Who and Michael Bublé, and so many of your actors make careers by passing as mine..."

Matthew snorted, but let him change the channel; Alfred settled on Mythbusters. "You only remember when it means you can show your movies as Canadian content on my TV."

"And when they nominate two Canadians for directing Oscars, or want to shoot in your cheaper locations, or if I just want to watch something _you_ produce." He smiled at the light blush dusting Matthew's cheekbones. "God, the CRTC needs to back off."

Matthew's expression fell, and Alfred mentally kicked himself.

"It's not like you'd stop making movies or music if the CRTC just up and disappeared."

It must have been the right answer, because Matthew chewed his lip thoughtfully. "But I might. Disappear, I mean, if my people don't have a place to create and share a Canadian identity."

Alfred tugged his brother against his side. "I wouldn't let you disappear, Matt. No matter what."

They were quiet for a while, watching Jamie try to shoot fish in a barrel. The episode ended, segued to Storm Chasers. Then Matthew wriggled out from under Alfred's arm. "I almost forgot! You said you had a new mod to show me for Oblivion?"

"Yeah, a quest, full voices and everything." He snagged his laptop bag from under the coffee table, pulled out his computer. "You start by driving off some toughs who're attacking what you think is an innocent young Imperial girl, but then you get involved with a gang war."

"Like the Guild quest lines?"

"But better. You can actually _choose_ which side to work for, even double-cross them or take them both down."

"The modders sound crazy."

"Crazy _awesome_."

Matthew leaned in when he launched the program; Alfred smiled.

 

_They work for years, polishing their skills._

 

"-So Lili suggested a three-way with Francis, and Vash didn't freak out, of all things. They left the bar together, Arthur switched from lager to straight gin, and you know the rest." Matthew closed the dishwasher.

Alfred looked down at his Coke, back up. "Hey Matt?"

"Arthur was still- Yeah?"

"Notice anything about our borders?"

He hesitated. "Well, the relaxation of passport laws has meant faster travel again."

"That's not what I mean - they're fuzzy. Getting fuzzier."

Matt licked his lips, looked away.

"Right now, newlyweds in Edmundston are having their wedding photos taken at the botanical gardens. A child in a green shirt is looking down through the glass floor of the CN Tower." He stood, took Matt's hand. Laced their fingers together while Matthew stared at the microwave. "Kids in Rankin Inlet arrived at school this morning under starlight." He tugged gently on Matthew's hand until he looked at Alfred. "And we both know that borders don't blend unless both nations want them to."

"I'm not _supposed_ to want to," Matt said quietly. "I'm supposed to be independent, to want to kick out anyone who looks at me or my lands the wrong way."

"Do you remember the time after Francis left, but before my Revolution?"

He nodded.

"There's no reason it couldn't be like that, except instead of us against Britain it'd be us against the world." He touched their foreheads together. "Matthew would still be Matthew, and Alfred would still be Alfred, we'd just be.. together."

"Why ask me now? It started decades ago."

"I guess I got tired of waiting."

He took a breath, let it out. "But we're not-"

"-Supposed to?"

"Yeah."

"If you and your people feel the same way about something, do it. Don't let the rest of the world tell you no."

"... And you? Do you and _your_ people feel the same way about this?"

Alfred could hear "About me?" underneath Matt's words. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."

Matthew smiled, stepped closer when Alfred's free hand slid across his back. It was Alfred who tilted his face, brushed his lips across Matthew's; it was Matthew who deepened the kiss, who tugged Alfred upstairs and into bed.

It was Matthew who, sprawled under the covers and his head pillowed on Alfred's chest, murmured, "That'd be nice, together."

 

_But they forget that Nations have centuries of practice._

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt/request asked for US-Canada cultural exchange as "slow insidious seduction," so I took it and ran with it.
> 
> Title is from the song of the same name, by Our Lady Peace (Canadian rock band; [lyrics](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ourladypeace/allforyou.html) and [audio](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10M28xJOeWw)).
> 
>  _One - Setback_ : Set in 1980. I had a teacher in high school who swore up and down that there were discussions in the US on how to annex Canada ~~for its fresh water~~ if Quebec separated. I have no idea if it's true or not, but it seemed the sort of thing manipulative!Alfred would do. Referendum in question is first of the Quebec sovereignty ones. And yeah, depending on how Quebec separated (what, _exactly_ , an "economic association" with Canada would mean) it could force an economic realignment of Canada. Among other things.
> 
>  _Two - Progress_ : Set just after the 2010 Olympics. All of the Canadian musicians listed 1) performed either at the Olympics or at the concerts around it, and 2) have attained significant American success (all but The Guess Who have been nominated for Grammys). Canadian actors that are often assumed to be American include Michael J Fox, Mike Myers, Christopher Plummer, Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, and about fifty bazillion others.
> 
> On the flip side, both TV shows are American (though Mythbusters is a joint Australian-American production), airing on an American channel (Discovery, though it has a Canadian subsidiary); and TES IV: Oblivion is an American RPG. On a related note, it was a pain to find an American game that didn't have at least some of its dev work done in Canada - Ubisoft, and EA I know for sure have studios here, and Bioware's Canadian. For the sake of argument, we'll assume the modder is American as well.
> 
>  _Three - Success_ : Set in the near-ish future, maybe 2030 or so. Edmundston, New Brunswick, and Toronto, Ontario are cities on the Canadian side of the Canada-US border; Rankin Inlet is a town in Nunavut, >1200 km from the closest American border and just barely below the Arctic Circle (by just over 3 degrees), which you get to by plane. Just to illustrate how far the Americanisation (Americanization?) reached. Note directionality; it's not in the fic because it kept not flowing, but Matthew can see just over the (political) border, while Alfred can see past Baffin Island.  
> 


End file.
